jemadar

American  

[jem-uh-dahr] / ˈdʒɛm əˌdɑr /

noun

1. any of various government officials.

2. the supervisor of a staff of servants.

3. an officer in a sepoy regiment, corresponding in rank to a lieutenant.

---

jemadar British  

/ ˈdʒɛməˌdɑː /

noun

1. a native junior officer belonging to a locally raised regiment serving as mercenaries in India, esp with the British Army (until 1947)

2. an officer in the Indian police

---

Etymology

Origin of jemadar

1755–65; < Urdu jamadar, variant of jamdar < Persian < Arabic jamʿ aggregation + Persian dār holding, leader of

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

jemadar

A little less than half an hour later Samson drove across the bridge in the official landau, followed by an officer, a jemadar, a naik and eight troopers of De Wing's Sikh cavalry.

From Guns of the Gods by Mundy, Talbot

This was pressed by the jemadar, and acceded to by myself, as the very utmost I could afford.

From The Discovery of the Source of the Nile by Speke, John Hanning

A body of the sultan’s Belooch soldiers, under a jemadar, or officer, and a party of slaves armed with muskets, formed their escort.

From Great African Travellers From Mungo Park to Livingstone and Stanley by Kingston, William Henry Giles

After recording a lot of contradictory evidence, de R. adjourned the case, whereupon the Madras Infantry jemadar pleaded on behalf of the havildar.

From In the Andamans and Nicobars The Narrative of a Cruise in the Schooner "Terrapin" by Kloss, C. Boden

The Colonel then gave the jemadar of our party a present of 25 dollars, and to each of the privates 20 dollars, to set themselves up for the journey.

From What Led to the Discovery of the Source of the Nile by Speke, John Hanning